Crayfish feast |
March 30, 2019 |
It was such a beautiful day and the tide was so cooperative that we were able to do a second dive for crayfish. Apparently that's quite a rarity at Toms Rock.
We had even less luck the second time around. My buddy found a small nest and managed to grab a few. I couldn't find any crays but I did discover a crab that I was able to snag after a couple of attempts. It did managed to give me a good pinch on my index finger for the trouble.
While we searched around we did come across one peculiarity. It was a dead crayfish (or perhaps it was the empty exoskeleton of a cray that had molted) surrounded by a large starfish to form a bizarre ball. I wasn't even aware that starfish are scavengers and include shellfish in their diet.
After we ascended and got back on the boat with our small catch we discovered that some of the other divers faired much better. Some had returned with as many as ten crayfish! However not all of the crayfish were keepers. All of them were measured to ensure they met the central New Zealand area fishing rules for minimum size. Any crays under size were thrown back. We also made sure to stay within the daily bag limit of 6 crayfish per diver (the limit at the time of this dive).
That meant I returned with 6 crays and 1 crab. Plenty of food for a crayfish feast!
The catch
The catcher
I took the catch to a friend's house where they were prepared by his wife who knew how to cook them up. It was a matter of cutting through the shell lengthwise (with some special scissors), cutting the body in half with a butchers knife, removing the guts, covering the interior with garlic butter, and throwing them on the grill.
Cutting through the shell
Halved cray with guts still in
Crab
The grill
The plate
Pretty great end to a one of those "you can't beat Wellington on a good day" kinda days.
Thoms Rock
| Location: Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand |
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